How to edit a PDF document

By Brian Duddy, Product Engineer

A lot of people think that PDFs are “read-only” and can’t be edited. Not true! With the right PDF software, you can easily edit a PDF document. There’s no need to hunt down the original source document, make edits to it in another application, and then convert it to PDF again.

Here’s how easy it is to edit PDF text using Foxit PhantomPDF:

1. Open the document.
2. Click on the ‘Edit Text’ button near the top-center of the screen.
3. To change text, simply locate it and click to highlight it, then type your new text.
4. To delete it, just select text and then hit backspace. Or type the new text directly over the highlighted text.

That’s it. But wait, there’s more!

Want to make sure text flows properly between pages and paragraphs? Just use the Link & Join Text feature.

Want to change the font or how it looks? No problem. Select the text you want to change, then use the EDIT tab to change the font type, adjust size, change the margins of a content block and modify the paragraph alignment and spacing. You can even run a spell check on your content to ensure you didn’t introduce any typos.

Want to add new text?

1. Select EDIT > Edit Content > Add Text tool  .
2. Start typing or paste text into the area where you want to add it.
3. Choose the font format you want in the Font group.
4. In the Paragraph group, you can align the text and set other paragraph options including word spacing, character scale, and line spacing.

Change objects

“Object”, in PDF terms, is a fancy word for images and shapes. You can use your PDF software to edit images, add shading to objects and turn text into graphic objects. PhantomPDF even gives you the ability to work with .ai files (graphics created with Adobe Illustrator).

To add new image objects, just do this:

1. Choose EDIT > Edit Content > Add Images tool  > New Image Object . The Add New Image dialog box pops up.
2. Set the parameters and click OK. The window switches to the Image Editor.
3. In the IMAGE tab, draw your image from scratch. Or click the Paste button to insert an image from the clipboard.

To see more easy ways to edit content with PhantomPDF, please check out our video tutorials.

Are there limitations to what you can edit with PhantomPDF? Not nearly as many as there used to be. Because the advanced editing features in PhantomPDF lets you make major layout changes, like resizing images, adding tables, and moving or adding text.

Sure, there may be times when it makes sense to go back to the original file. But for most editing tasks, Foxit PhantomPDF’s editing capability is easy, efficient, and economical.